Pope Francis received participants in the general chapters of two women’s religious institutes: the Order of the Most Holy Savior (Bridgettines) and the Comboni Missionary Sisters.

“I urge you to devote yourselves in particular to prayer of adoration: this is important,” Pope Francis said to the Bridgettines, founded by St. Bridget of Sweden. “To worship, to immerse yourselves in divine love and give it to those you meet on your path. It is beautiful to worship in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, to be in the consoling presence of Jesus and there to draw the apostolic impetus to be instruments of goodness, tenderness and welcome in the community, in the Church and in the world.”

“In listening to the Holy Spirit, I propose to you to find new ways of evangelization and proximity,” the Pope said to the Comboni Missionary Sisters, founded by St. Daniele Comboni in 1872. “Imitating compassion and tenderness – proximity, compassion, tenderness, the style of God – of your Founder, you know how to put yourselves at the service of the victims of modern slavery, which as social scourges continue, unfortunately, to be present on a large scale throughout the world.”